Delineating (and delimiting) the boundary spanning role of the medical public information officer

Medical public information officers serve as boundary spanners between medical experts and journalists. Editors at every daily newspaper in Pennsylvania and cardiac surgeons in Pennsylvania were surveyed about the role of medical PIOs. While the two groups expressed many similar opinions, editors generally were more open to medical PIOs as boundary spanners, whereas surgeons preferred to handle their own media relations.     

News and information leadership in the digital age

This paper examines information networks on social media to draw conclusions about influence relationships among members of the mass media. The project considers social networks and information patterns using Twitter data, first at the newspaper level and second at the journalist level. Using a computational approach, we look for evidence of elite-directed information flows, as well as exploring whether we find evidence of an increase in the democratization of newsmaking. This study finds that elite voices continue to dominate information networks in the digital age; however, it also finds evidence that information can move expeditiously from journalists in local and regional outlets to elite ones, and vice versa. We move further to explore the content of tweets among the journalist network, finding that there are substantial, direct interactions among elite and regional and local journalists. Our results taken together uncover new network patterns and provide a novel insight on the role of information technologies in newsmaking in the digital age.     

Forgotten Athletes and Token Reporters: Analyzing the Gender Bias in Sports Journalism

This study considers the coverage of women’s sports and the involvement of women in newspaper sports journalism in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Results of a content analysis (N = 3,382) show that the coverage of, and professional opportunities for, women and men are far from equal in sports media. Further, results of a survey of professional journalists (N = 298) show that despite a widespread acknowledgment of the inequities that exist, male journalists remain significantly less likely than female journalists to report supporting an increased role for women within     

How journalists engage in branding on Twitter: individual,organizational, and institutional levels

In a social media age, branding is an increasingly visible aspect of identity construction online. For media professionals generally and journalists especially, branding on spaces such as Twitter reveals the complicated set of forces confronting such public-facing actors as they navigate tensions between personal disclosure for authenticity and professional decorum for credibility, and between establishing one’s own distinctiveness and promoting one’s employer or other stakeholders. While studies have begun to reveal what journalists say about branding, they have yet to provide a broad profile of what they do. This study takes up that challenge through a content analysis of the Twitter profiles and tweets of a representative sample of 384 U.S. journalists. We focus on the extent of branding practices; the levels at which such branding occurs, whether to promote one’s self (individual), one’s news organization (organizational), or the journalism profession at large (institutional); and how other social media practices may be related to forms of journalistic branding. Results suggest that branding is now widely common among journalists on Twitter; that branding occurs at all three levels but primarily at the individual and organizational levels, with organizational branding taking priority; and that time on Twitter is connected with more personal information being shared.     

Agricultural Journalists' Assessments of Print Coverage of Agricultural News1

Abstract Critics of agricultural news claim farm media and mass media coverage of agriculture is systematically distorted, a condition that could seriously affect the agricultural information system. A national survey used agricultural journalists as expert judges to assess how well three types of print journalists cover agricultural news. Their assessments indicated that mass media reporters who do not regularly cover agricultural news tend to write agriculture stories that are superficial and stereotyped but not biased toward agricultural interests. Farm magazine writers' stories are not superficial or stereotyped, but writers are uncritical of agriculture, biased toward agroindustry, and overlook important social and environmental issues. Newspaper farm beat reporters are closer to farm magazine writers in not trivializing agriculture and closer to general newspaper reporters in avoiding close ties with industry. Both farmers and public thus receive biased and fragmented reporting that may polarize their views on current agricultural issues. Even if reporters are aware of critical shortcomings in their coverage, improvement may require reduction in structural constraints on story choice.     

Hybridizing journalism: clash of two “journalisms” in Africa

This article examines the influence of Chinese media on the journalistic orientation of African journalists who have been socialized in Chinese media organizations based in Africa. It employs the ideological level of Shoemaker and Reese’s hierarchy of influences model, and is based on interviews with African journalists working in CCTV (later rebranded China Global Television Network [CGTN]), Xinhua News Agency, and China Daily newspaper. The article contributes to the ideologization debate on Chinese media expansion into Africa. While this debate has been predominantly framed through the Manichean prism of positive or negative, this article proposes a hybridization between a Chinese and Western journalism orientation on the African continent. This will result in a hybrid form of journalism professionalization in which Western and Chinese journalistic traditions coexist.     

British newspapers privilege health and medicine topics over other science news

This study examines coverage of science, health and medicine in five UK national newspapers: three broadsheets, a mid-sheet and a tabloid. The content analysis is compared with a quantitative survey of members of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW). The study confirms earlier reports that medicine and health topics are privileged over science in newspaper reporting. Unlike studies of medical research news, which have found medical journals to be the main source of news stories, this study found that general science and medical news is drawn from a wide range of sources. Although respondents were generally positive about press materials, targeting and news value were highlighted as areas for improvement. Briefing scientists to use less jargon and training scientists to better understand the needs of journalists were also highlighted by respondents as areas to improve.     

Information subsidies and agenda-building during the Israel–Lebanon crisis

This study examined the impact of information subsidies on media coverage during a crisis. Using the July 2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict as a backdrop, this research reviewed access that U.S. military public affairs officers provided the media and analyzed subsequent coverage for the presence of the military's message. Coverage was more neutral to positive than negative. Items containing organizational messages were more positive; those quoting practitioner-facilitated sources introduced organizational messages into coverage and generated more positive coverage. Access to information subsidies had a positive impact on coverage and aided in the successful transfer of attribute salience from practitioners to the media.     

Exploring the role of the Senate Majority Leader's political public relations efforts

Grounded in first- and second-level agenda building, this study explored the role of the U.S. Senate Majority Leader in shaping the salience of issues and issue attributes in news media coverage and policymaking in 2011. A total of 358 public relations messages, 164 newspaper articles, and 83 policymaking documents were analyzed. Significant correlations were found supporting agenda-building linkages at both levels. Different types of information subsidies were explored, including press releases, blog posts, Facebook posts, and Twitter messages.     

Tracing Protest Motives: The Link Between Newspaper Coverage,Movement Messages,and Demonstrators’ Reasons to Protest

Within the social movement literature, it is mostly assumed that the reasons why people join a protest demonstration are in line with the collective action frames of the organizations staging the protest. Some recent studies suggest, however, that protesters’ motives are only partly aligned with the messages that are broadcasted by social movements. This study argues that activists’ motives are for an important part shaped by mass media coverage on the protest issue. It investigates the link between people's reasons to protest, the campaign messages of the protest organizers, and newspaper coverage prior to the demonstration. Data cover 14 anti‐austerity demonstrations in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Results show that social movements depend a lot on other political actors to gain media visibility for their messages. Furthermore, the relationship between social movement frames and protest participant motives is mediated by newspaper coverage. Protest organizers’ are able to reach demonstrators via their own communication channels to some extent, but for many of their messages, they also rely on journalists’ reporting about the protest issue.     

Health Journalists and Three Levels of Public Information: Issue and Agenda Disparities?

This is a 2-phase study of the sources of information health journalists use and rely upon for writing health news stories. The 1st phase of the study includes both depth interviews and an online survey with 188 health journalists. Phase 2 of the study extends the findings from Phase 1, with particular attention paid to the roles of public health information officers at 3 government levels: local, state, and federal. Results from this study suggest that a monolithic, “1-size-fits-all” media relations model for public information officers is not adequate in the current health news environment. Findings explore differences in perceptions of the value of public information sources at 3 levels and suggest that some bureaucratic inefficiencies may interfere with more effective source/subsidy–provider relationships.     

Completeness and Accuracy of Recall in the Diffusion of the News From a Newspaper vs. a Television Source

The study of the word-of-mouth flow of news to audiences is an important if somewhat neglected topic. First, this may be the only means by which some citizens receive information about events and issues in their community. Second, in disaster situations many people cannot be reached by conventional means, and critical information comes to them by word-of-mouth. The present experiment makes use of the Allport and Postman design for the study of the changes (leveling and sharpening) that messages undergo as they are passed from one person to another in serial retelling. A news story of just over 300 words was presented to a set of "starter" subjects. Each then passed on the information to another subject, who in turn passed it on to a third, and so on. Seven such chains were developed with six subjects in each of two versions of the experiment. In one the information was presented as a newspaper story. In the other, the (same) story was presented via television. Those in the newspaper chains remembered more details overall than those involved in the television version. However, a clear pattern of "leveling" was characteristic of all the chains. An analysis of the salient details that survived through the six subjects in each of the chains (regardless of medium) showed a coherent and more or less logical organization of the central ideas and not a random jumble of distorted facts. Thus, word-of-mouth transmission of news can convey meaningful, if greatly abbreviated, versions of stories to a secondary audience. However, the data suggest that audiences recall more complete information from a newspaper presentation of a story than from a television exposure.     

Reevaluating Public Relations Information Subsidies: Market-Driven Journalism and Agenda-Building Theory and Practice

Public relations practitioners provide information subsidies to the media on behalf of their clients to influence the media agenda and potentially affect public opinion. McManus (1994) stated that news media are using more public relations information subsidies to contain costs and increase profits. Through in-depth interviews and a nationwide survey, this study of editors' perceptions of the phenomenon suggests that increasing economic constraints have led to an increased use of public relations materials only in specific instances that often do not support the agenda-building goals of the sponsoring organizations.     

‘Think imperially’: Indian journalists’ goodwill visits to White Australia, 1927 and 1947

ABSTRACT

Academic research on the White Australia Policy has spanned the history of Asian migration and policy-making initiatives in Australia. However, the role of popular transnational media images and stories of the past that inform the socio-cultural understanding of Australia–India cross-cultural relations has been under evaluated. In this paper, using unexplored archival material from popular newspaper reports and columns, I will examine the ‘goodwill visits’ of two Indian journalists, K. K. Lalkaka and Sir R. Srinivasa Sarma, to Australia in 1927 and 1947. By assessing the role of these two journalists, this paper will highlight transnational issues such as migration, ethnicity, race, class and trade between the two countries. Borrowing from Vineet Thakur’s research highlighting the role of first diplomats in the pre-independence era India, this article will contribute to the field of history in Indian diplomatic studies and historiography of Australian–Indian cross-cultural relations.     

Contested Cosmopolitanisms: Global Meetings and Local Mobilizations

This article analyzes the ways that Pittsburgh anarchist activists, politicians, and journalists framed the 2009 G‐20 meetings and protests through a content analysis of newspaper articles and activist documents. Our analysis found that cosmopolitanism was a central discourse, but it was also contested. Pittsburgh anarchists introduced an open‐community cosmopolitanism that prioritizes the local over the global as a site of struggle and also embraces expansion of rights and commitment to diversity and inclusivity. Somewhat unexpectedly, this open‐community cosmopolitanism was successfully transmitted beyond activist discourse into the public and the local media. The anarchist activist open‐community framing challenged Pittsburgh residents to question whether increased global corporate investments were best for Pittsburgh and, in doing so, fostered connections between local anarchist activists, local journalists, and local Pittsburgh residents. To reflect on the ways that activists contribute to ideas of cosmopolitanism, this article presents a theoretical model that incorporates individual and collective dispositions and multiple ideological standpoints. We also show how movement groups may strategically draw on these shared cosmopolitan dispositions to expand their movement base, communicate their messages, and challenge the hegemony of global capitalism.     

Taking stock of research methods and analysis on oppositional political terrorism

A variety of techniques are used by journalists, practitioners, experts, consultants, and scholars in conducting research on terrorism.² This information appears in the context of journal articles, chapters in scholarly books, academic monographs, newspaper and magazine articles, and books for popular audiences. In general, this work can be divided into qualitative and quantitative approaches. A subtle but necessary distinction should also be made between research produced for popular audiences and that which is done for the academic or scholarly community. There is an understanding that work for this latter audience is more rigorous but may lack the excitement and sensational appeal to sustain a wider interest. Nevertheless, a symbiotic relationship exists between popular and academic writers; at various times they depend upon or use research from each other. Periodically, researchers conduct comprehensive reviews of the research on terrorism and the methods used by investigators. Since the examples from which they draw are illustrative, these writings are not meant to be comprehensive, but rather illustrative. Building on similar work by Schmid (1983) and Gurr (1988), I review salient contributions in both qualitative and quantitative approaches to terrorism studies.     

Formation of a region: Source strategies and media images of the Sweden–Danish Öresund Region

The research applies media discourse analysis and late modernity theory to the social construction of the trans-national Öresund Region between the South of Sweden and East of Denmark. Based on interviews with PR sources and journalists, analysis of newspaper texts and opinion polls, the study found that despite trans-national aims the region is mainly constructed through Swedish or Danish national perspectives. It was also found that as a news management strategy, the factual strategy, emphasizing logical arguments and the production of reports, surveys, analysis, books and seminars aimed towards opinion elites, has been most successful. The communicated region is dominated by a national growth discourse where regional political-economical elites support local and national growth prior to other values. The media formation of the Öresund Region is dominated by elite actors and has an auto-communicative character.     

Cultural convergence 10 years later: A reexamination of intergroup bias among journalists in the digital media age

This study revisits Filak’s 2004 research of print and broadcast journalists to assess whether changes in the field have diminished the levels of intergroup bias for these groups. The findings here demonstrate that print and broadcast journalists (n = 191) remained biased against each other, even in the face of obvious outside threats and outgroup benefits. In addition, the journalists were more likely to view convergence efforts negatively when these efforts were perceived to be the work of outgroup members. In comparing the data gathered here to that in the original study, dislike and distrust of each other remain consistent. Finally, the influx of digital media, although viewed as valuable by all participants, has had little impact regarding the levels of bias the journalists espoused.     

Cultural Convergence: Intergroup Bias Among Journalists and its Impact on Convergence

A survey of 189 print and broadcast journalists (N = 189) assessed whether journalists possess characteristics of groups in an intergroup-bias dynamic. Journalists demonstrated roots of bias by rating their own medium and career choices significantly higher than those of their outgroup. The participants also rated a convergence plan more positively when they perceived it to have been created by members of their ingroup as opposed to their outgroup. Additionally, journalists were more positive toward the group that created the plan if they perceived the group not to be comprised solely of outgroup members. They were also less positive toward the plan and the group that created it if the plan were to be implemented in their own newsroom. Implications for convergence and intergroup bias are discussed.     

"Molympics"? Journalistic Discourse of Mormons in Relation to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games

During the 2002 Winter Olympics, many made the argument that attention on Salt Lake City provided an opportunity to reshape the Mormon image. Using discourse analysis of news magazine and newspaper articles, this article assesses whether media portrayals of Mormons shifted during the Olympics. It argues that a model minority discourse used by journalists in past decades to describe Mormons persisted in most fundamental respects. Some details changed, but larger stereotypical images were not challenged.